The use of bacterial cultures to increase the content of conjugated linoleic acid in milk and dairy products

The bioactive properties of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) are associated with human health promotion processes, including anticarcinogenic, antiatherogenic, antiinflammatory and antidiabetic activity, and the ability to reduce body fat. The functional properties of the bioactive component of the fat phase of cow’s milk, called conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), are described in this article. The content of conjugated linoleic acid in raw milk was studied using the capillary gas chromatography (GC) method. The content of CLA in raw milk was evaluated, taking into account the influence of the diet of feeding cows. Many samples of raw milk were studied in summer and winter for this purpose. It was determined that the concentration of conjugated linoleic acid in the fat phase of milk in winter is lower than in summer, when the diet of cows is dominated by green feed. The content of conjugated linoleic acid in the summer period ranged from 122.3 to 372.2 mg/dm 3 , and in winter it ranged from 54.7 to 136.47 mg/dm 3 . Experimental data of the possibility of increasing the content of conjugated linoleic acid in the fat phase of milk by inserting bacterial cultures is also presented. Re sults of the parameters of production conjugated linoleic acid under the influence of Lactobacillus acidophilus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp . bulgaricus were obtained. The use of these bacterial cultures allowed to increase the content of conjugated linoleic acid by 23–36% in the studied samples.